Lasting apparatus



March 15, 1955 J s KAMBORlAN 2,703,895

LASTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 3, 1951 frmye J 0.6 dKa/rzfi a 5 United States Patent LASTING APPARATUS Jacob S. Kamborian, West Newton, Mass.

Application January 3, 1951, Serial No. 204,244

3 Claims. (Cl. 12-1) This invention relates to lasting apparatus for use in the manufacture of shoes, and more particularly for use in cement lasting the forepart and sides of shoes, although it may be used for lasting the entire shoe.

In my Patent 2,438,919 granted April 6, 1948, there is illustrated a lasting apparatus in which there is a pair of gripper rolls arranged to grip successive small areas of the lasting margin, stress them substantially perpendicular to the bottom structure of the shoe, and then to release them to a continuously rotating wiper in the form of a rigid helix or screw designed to apply wiping stresses to the lasting margin as it is released from the grippers and progressively and uninterruptedly wipe small areas into engagement with the bottom structure. A nozzle or equivalent device may be mounted between the gripper rolls and the wiper of this machine in a position to inject a quantity of adhesive into the closing space between the marginal portion of the bottom structure and the under side of the upper material so that the lasting margin will adhere to the bottom following the wiping operation. The adhesive used is of the thermoplastic or thermoadhesive kind and a considerable amount of the adhesive becomes attached to the wiper roll. Because of the frictional heat developed by constant rubbing against the lasting margin, the wiper is quite hot and hence keeps the adherent adhesive gummy and sticky. The adhesive accumulates rapidly on the wiper and hence necessitates frequent stopping of the machine and discontinuance of work in order to clean it. The principal object of this invention is to provide for automatically cleaning the wiper of adhesive in such a manner that the machine need not be stopped to remove the accumulated adhesive. Further objects are to provide means for removing the adhesive which will not require extensive modification of the machine and/or the use of auxiliary tools or instruments Still further objects are to provide means which is inexpensive to apply to the apparatus and to maintain in working order, which will not interfere with the operation of the machine and is effective in operation In order to keep the wiping means clean of adhesive or at least to cause adhesive deposited thereon or accumulated thereby to flake off, the wiping means is cooled to a temperature substantially below the temperature at which the adhesive sets Cooling the adhesive embrittles it so that it flakes, chips and/or is knocked off the wiper means during the wiping operation As herein illustrated, the cooling is produced by introducing a stream of compressed cold air or other vapor through a passage extending longitudinally through the wiper roll and through an orifice or orifices to effect expansion of the vapor. The cold air or vapor, during its passage through the roll, and expansion thereof through the orifice, cools the entire roll and helical rib carried thereby, so that it may be kept at a rather low temperature in comparison to the temperature at which the adhesive sets.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein;

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the lasting machine showing the cooling device attached thereto;

Fig. 1a is a detail of a cement delivery nozzle suitable for applying adhesive to the margin of the midsole prior to wiping the lasting margin into engagement with the midsole;

Fig. 2 is a plan view to larger scale showing the relation of the gripper rolls and wiper roll;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the wiper "ice roll showing the longitudinal passage therethrough, through which air is introduced to the core of the wiper roll and from the core to the surface for effecting cooling thereof;

Fig. 4 is an alternative way of cooling in which the cooling fluid is discharged at the rear end of the wiper roll; and

Fig. 5 is an alternative way of cooling in which the cooling fluid is introduced at the rear end of the wiper roll and discharged at its forward end.

Referring to Fig. 1, the machine, which is very similar in many aspects to that shown in the aforementioned patent, has a pedestal 10 at the upper end of which there is a head frame consisting of the frame members 12 and 14 on which the operating instrumentalities are mounted and within which are journaled shafts for effecting operation thereof. The frame portion 14 has journaled within it a pair of spaced parallel shafts 16-16, the upper ends of which are connected by suitable gearing to a horizontally arranged shaft 18. The shaft 18 extends rearwardly from the frame portion 14 and has on it a pulley (not shown) by which the shaft is rotated Rotation of the shaft 18 effects rotation of the shafts 16-16 in opposite directions through the aforementioned gearing and these shafts have at their lower ends gripper rolls 20-20 for engaging the lasting margin of a shoe and stretching the upper over the last.

The gripping rolls stress the lasting margin substantially perpendicular to the bottom structure of the shoe and as they release the stressed material it is continuously and smoothly wiped inwardly over the bottom structure by an elongated rotating wiper 30 having on its surface a helical rib 32. Between the gripper rolls and the wiper roll is an adhesive applying device which is here illustrated (Fig. In) as a nozzle 11 having an upper extension 13 through which adhesive from a supply is conducted to the nozzle and a lower angular extremity 15 for engagement with the marginal portion of a midsole p for the purpose of applying adhesive thereto prior to folding of the lasting margin into engagement therewith. Such a nozzle is shown in my copending application, Serial No. 20,297, filed April 10, 1948, and hence need not be described in greater detail herein.

The wiper is supported for rotation in a sleeve bearing 26 (Fig. l) fastened to the lower end of a bearing support slide 24. The slide 24 is mounted in a bracket 22 bolted to the frame 12. Adjusting screws 40 provide for vertical adjustment of the slide relative to the bracket and hence vertical movement of the sleeve bearing 26. The wiper 30 has a rearwardly extending shaft 28 journaled within the bearing 26 and is connected at its rear end by a pair of universal joints 34-34 to a shaft 36, the latter being journaled in a bearing 38. The shaft 36 extends rearwardly through the bearing 38 and is connected to a suitable source of power (not shown) for effecting rotation thereof and hence of the wiper 30.

The rotation of the wiper 30 is continuous and the rather harsh rubbing action which takes place between it and the lasting margin during the wiping-in process generates considerable friction in the form of heat so that the wiper itself is quite hot. Furthermore, during the wiping operation, some adhesives squeezes out from between the inner edge of the wiping margin and the bottom structure even with very careful control of the quantity of adhesive introduced between the margin and bottom structure, and hence the wiper soon acquires a considerable coating of soft sticky adhesive. The high temperature of the wiper keeps the adhesive sticky and as a result it picks up dirt and other foreign matter and some of this is transferred to the work. To avoid this it is often necessary to stop the machine and clean the rolls and it is the purpose of the present invention to eliminate this accumulation of adhesive as far as possible by cooling the wiper roll to such a temperature that the adhesive picked up thereby will solidify and flake or chip off of the roll almost as fast as it is picked up. To this end, as illustrated more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, the wiper roll 30 has a longitudinal passage 33 drilled thereinto from its outer end substantially axially thereof from which there extends one or more branch passages 37, these latter branch passages extending to the surface of the wiper roll. The entrance to the passage 33 is counterbored, that is made of somewhat larger diameter, as at 39 and there is introduced into this portion of the passage a cylindrical.sleeve-type bearing 41 within which there is rotatably inserted a nipple 42, the latter being free to turn in the bearing sleeve 41 and hence to permit free rotation of the wiper roll. Extending forwardly from the nipple 42 is a pipe 44, the latter being bent upwardly as shown in Fig. 1 and supported on the frame 14 by a bracket member 46. The pipe 44 continues upwardly and rearwardly from the bracket 46 and has a terminal end 48 entering the pedestal for connection to a pressure tank or air pump (not shown). Air or other fluid under pressure, for example carbon dioxide or ammonia is conducted from the tank or from the pump through the pipe 44 to the interior of the rotating wiper 30 and is discharged through the branch passages 37 close to the surface thereof. The expansion of the air or fluid under pressure as it is delivered to the wiper, effects a cooling action thereon sufiiciently to lower the temperature of the wiper roll below that of the temperature at which the adhesive sets. A valve 50 in the pipe 44 provides for controlling the quantity of air or other fluid transmitted to the wiper roll.

Alternatively, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the wiper roll may be pierced longitudinally from its free end all the way to its rear end and through the shaft 28 to where the latter extends from the rear side of the bearing sleeve 26 so as to have a longitudinally extending passage 33. There may be one or more outlets or discharge passages 37' extending from the passage 33 through which the compressed air or fluid may be discharged. Discharge of the compressed vapor or fluid results in expansion thereof, and hence cooling of the parts. A discharge passage 37' may conveniently be located in the shaft 28 at the rear of the bearing sleeve 26, or within the bearing sleeve in which case a hole is drilled in the shaft, a circumferential groove is cut in the shaft within which the hole terminates, and a hole is drilled in the bearing in registry with a portion of the groove. The pipe 44 having an end attached to a nipple 42 fitted into the free end of the wiper roll, may be led to a source of air pressure in the same manner as illustrated in Fig. 1, or may be bent at a sharper angle and carried directly back, as illustrated in Fig. 4. As there shown, clips 52-52 are provided for supporting the pipe on the bearing.

In a still further form of the invention the passage may oe drilled through the wiper roll from its free end rearwardly into the shaft and terminated in the bearing. Such a passage 33" is illustrated in Fig. 5. A radial passage 37" is drilled in the shaft 28, and its outer end has communication with a peripheral groove 54' cut in the surfaces of the shaft and sleeve. A hole 56 is drilled in the bearing sleeve for communication with the groove. An angle nipple 58 is forced into the hole 56 and to its free end is attached a pipe 44". A nipple 60 having a small orifice is fixed in the passage 33" at the free end of the wiper roll. As thus constructed, compressed air or fluid is delivered to the passage 33" at the rear end of the wiper roll through the nipple 58 and flows forwardly through the roll and out through the orifice of the nipple 60. Expansion of the air or fluid etfects cooling of the roll.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for lasting upper material over the bottom structure of a shoe, grippers for pulling successive small areas of the lasting margin substantially perpendicular to the bottom structure and then releasing them, means for injecting thermoplastic adhesive between the lasting margin and the bottom structure, an elongate ro tary wiper located close to the grippers to operate on the upper material released thereby to wipe successive small areas thereof into contact with the bottom structure, said rotary wiper being substantially cylindrical and carrying a helical rib and having an axial passage therein, means operably connected to an end of the wiper to effect constant rotation thereof, a bearing engaged with a part of the wiper, said bearing having a passage therein constantly in communication with the passage in the wiper, and means for conducting a cooling medium to the interior of the wiper by way of the passage in the bearing to effect cooling of the work engaging helical rib carried by the wiper, said passage in the wiper having an exhaust port through which air entering the passage may escape after passing therethrough.

2. In a machine for lasting upper material over the bottom structure of a shoe as set forth in claim 1 in which the bearing is nonrotatable and is located rearwardly of the rib and is provided with an annular passage in communication with the axial passage in the wiper and a radial passage extending through the wall of the bearing, and in which the means for conducting the cooling medium to the interior of the wiper communicates with said radial passage, and in which said exhaust port is located at a point remote from the entrance of the cooling me dium to the wiper.

3. In a machine for lasting upper material over the bottom structure of a shoe, grippers for pulling successive small areas of the lasting margin substantially perpendicular to the bottom structure of the shoe and then releasing them, means for injecting thermoplastic adhesive between the lasting margin and the bottom structure, wiper means in the form of an elongate rigid rotatable roll having a helical surface formation for operating progressively and continuously on the marginal material to wipe successive small areas into contact with the bot- .om structure, said roll having an elongate axial passage \herein extending throughout the major portion of its length, and branch passages extending from the axial passage through the walls of the roll to the surface thereof, said axial passage at its entrance end being of larger diameter than the remainder thereof, a sleeve bearing set into that portion of the passage of larger diameter, a nipple rotatably inserted in the sleeve, a source of air pressure, a tube, one end of which is connected to said source of air pressure and the other end of which is fixed to the outer end of the nipple through which air is conducted from the source of air pressure to the wiper and a valve in the tube for controlling the passage of air therethrough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,661,572 MacDonald Mar. 6, 1928 2,438,917 Karnborian Apr. 6, 1948 2,467,385 Kamborian Apr. 19, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 644,634 Germany May 10, 1937 

